Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Axios AM: Mike's Top 10 — "Able to breathe again"

Swan scoop: Christie friends believe he's running in '24 | Wednesday, April 21, 2021
 
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Axios AM
By Mike Allen ·Apr 21, 2021

☕ Good Wednesday morning. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,039 words ... 4 minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu.

  • 🚨 Situational awareness: Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend President Biden's virtual climate summit this week. And a UN-backed umbrella group responsible for over $70 trillion in assets announced the broadest financial industry effort yet on climate change.

🌐 You're invited — today at 12:30 p.m. ET: an Axios Virtual Event for Earth Week, featuring conversations with GE CEO Larry Culp, Senate Energy Chair Joe Manchin and Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning. Sign up here.

 
 
1 big thing: "Able to breathe again"
George Floyd Square in Minneapolis after the verdict. Photo: Adrees Lati/Reuters

Overnight: Much of the nation sighed with relief at the speed and sweep of the guilty verdicts against Derek Chauvin, Axios Twin Cities reporter Nick Halter writes.

  • The conviction marks "the first time in Minnesota history that a white police officer was convicted of killing a Black civilian on the job," according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

City and state officials had spent months bracing for unrest.

  • But in the end, they didn't even call a curfew.
Photo: Court TV via Reuters

Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's brother, said at a news conference in Minneapolis: "They're all saying the same thing: 'We won't be able to breathe until you're able to breathe.' Today we are able to breathe again."

  • "Justice for George means freedom for all."

🗞️ For history ...

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2. New hope, old fears
George Floyd Square just after the guilty verdict. Photo: Julio Cortez/AP

Courteney Ross, Floyd's girlfriend and a witness at the trial, on CNN before the verdict was read:

  • "I think it will mean change. It's a first step in a long road to recovery. We have a lot of work to do in Minneapolis. But I believe Floyd came here for a reason. ... Maybe we are the epicenter for change. Maybe we are making the world look at things in a different way."
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) embraces Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) as members of the Congressional Black Caucus react to the verdict. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

New mourning: A Black teenager was killed by police in Columbus, Ohio.

"Body-camera footage shows a white officer emerge from a vehicle as the victim appears to chase someone, who falls onto the sidewalk. The teen then turns toward someone else wearing a pink sweatsuit and takes a swing at her head. The officer fires four shots at the girl, leaving her sprawled next to a car in the driveway," per The Post.

  • "'She had a knife. She just ran at her,' one officer says on the footage."
  • The victim's aunt "maintained that the girl dropped the knife before she was shot," the Columbus Dispatch reports.
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3. ✈️ Being there: Airborne verdict
People celebrate in George Floyd Square. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

Axios' Russ Contreras was on a flight from Dallas to D.C. when the verdict was announced.

  • As the guilty counts were read, several Black passengers hugged.

Tawney Coburn, the 49-year-old mother of two Black sons, wiped away a tear.

  • "Honestly, this wasn't just Black people speaking out against injustice," she said of the verdict.
  • "A large part of America was watching."
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A message from Bank of America

The investment needed to solve global challenges
 
 

Achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals — including providing greater access to renewable energy — will require trillions of dollars from the private sector.

Bank of America is tapping its resources to help reach them.

 
 
4. 🚨 Swan scoop: Christie friends believe he's running in '24

Chris Christie talks to ABC's Lindsey Davis on Election Night. Photo: Lorenzo Bevilaqua/ABC via Getty Images

 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is seriously considering running for president in 2024, three people familiar with his thinking tell Axios' Jonathan Swan.

While Christie, 58, isn't saying anything publicly about his thinking — besides telling radio host Hugh Hewitt he's not ruling it out — people close to him have an early sense of the rationale and outlines of a potential candidacy.

  • Christie has told friends that he'd be the only person in the 2024 field with executive experience who has run a presidential race before.
  • That's a clear shot at one potential rival — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who's enjoying a surge of Republican popularity for his media-bashing and handling of COVID, but hasn't endured the scrutiny of a presidential race.

Christie could run on a reputation for toughness that appeals to Trump's base, minus the former president's recklessness, said one source. Another said he has a mix of combativeness and charisma that Republicans are looking for to take on President Biden and Democrats.

  • He has potential crossover appeal to blue-collar and suburban right-of-center voters.
  • And his experience as a former federal prosecutor could help distinguish him in debates.

Christie has told associates that former President Trump's decision about running again in 2024 won't affect his own decision-making.

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5. Own goal: Super League uravels
Leeds United players warmed up in anti-Super League T-shirts in England. Photo: Clive Brunskill/Pool via Reuters

Not a single ball was kicked.

  • Plans for the Super League collapsed spectacularly as six English clubs walked away from the plan only two days after it was announced, reports Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker.
  • Just after midnight in Europe, the Super League released a statement confirming the project had been suspended.
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6. 🎧 Rise of subscription podcasts
Apple CEO Tim Cook with the all-new iMac lineup, in the keynote video of yesterday's virtual event at Apple Park in Cupertino, Calif. Photo: Apple via Reuters

Apple debuted a paid podcast marketplace that will help creators monetize their content, Axios' Sara Fischer reports.

  • The service includes an Apple Podcasters Program, featuring tools needed by creators to offer premium subscriptions on Apple Podcasts for $19.99 annually.
  • Some subscriptions allow listeners to unlock new content. Others offer perks — bonus episodes or an ad-free experience.

What's next: As soon as next month, Spotify is set to announce a "subscription podcasting model that would let certain podcasters charge listeners for access on the streaming service," The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription).

  • Go deeper: Yesterday's other Apple announcements.
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7. Wealthy Latin Americans flock to U.S. for jabs
Data: Our World in Data. Chart: Axios Visuals

People of means from Latin America are chartering planes, booking commercial flights, buying bus tickets and renting cars to get the vaccine in the U.S. due to lack of supply at home, AP reports.

  • They're traveling thousands of miles — in some places taking a shuttle directly from the airport to COVID vaccine sites.
  • They include politicians, TV personalities, executives and a soccer team.
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8. Free school lunch through spring 2022

USDA announced it'll extend universal free lunch through the 2021-2022 school year "to reach more of the estimated 12 million youths experiencing food insecurity," the WashPost reports.

  • "Child nutrition program waivers, which aimed to cut through red tape to allow kids to eat free even outside normal meal times, were implemented at the beginning" of the pandemic.
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9. Netflix hits post-pandemic chill
Data: Kantar. Chart: Axios Visuals

Netflix added 4 million global subscribers last quarter — a far cry from the 6 million additions anticipated by Wall Street analysts, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

  • Why it matters: The streaming giant faces increased competition, particularly in the U.S. and increasingly abroad.

Keep reading.

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10. 🎮 Gen Z's favorite activity

Entertainment preferences of Gen Z (born 1997 to 2007) aren't good for Hollywood, the L.A. Times reports from a study by Deloitte:

  • 26% of Gen Zers "cited playing video games as their favorite entertainment activity, compared to 14% for listening to music, 12% for browsing the internet and 11% for engaging on social media. Only 10% said they would rather watch a movie or TV show at home."
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A message from Bank of America

Overcoming the $2.6 trillion global funding gap
 
 

$2.6 trillion is the amount the U.N. estimates is required to tackle global issues, such as providing 800 million people access to clean water and 1.8 billion people access to sanitation.

See how Bank of America is aligning its $2.4 trillion balance sheet to the task.

 

💡 Axios AM is written in Smart Brevity®. Learn how your team can communicate in the same smart, clear style with Axios HQ.

 

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